A Couple of Trades

I am getting very close to being caught up.  I just received these two packages last week. 

The first scan is the first trade.  Everything else shown is the second trade.

1.  Triston Casas.  There are reports going around that Casas is actually healthy and will be playing in winter ball to get ready for Spring Training.  It will be interesting to see if he can finally make it back to the Majors.  The only year he was fully healthy, he hit 24 home runs and finished third in the Rookie of the Year vote.  

2.  Roger Clemens.  I kind of like the fact that the photo from this card actually looks like it came from the time period the design is from.  These were really bland uniforms, but it still seems appropriate.

3.  Byung-Hyun Kim.  Pay attention Topps, this is how to think outside the box with retired players.  Topps seems to recycle the same Hall of Famers and super popular former stars all the time.  I would love to see some other players make appearances.  So it was really exciting to see someone like Byung-Hyun Kim not only show up in this set, but show up with the Red Sox.  

4.  Nomar Garciaparra.  This is a bit more like what Topps would do.  Not that I mind getting cards of players like Nomar still, but I love to see lesser players get new cards.

5.  David Ortiz.  I never complain about new Ortiz cards though.

6.  Carl Yastrzemski.  11,988 career at-bats places Yaz third all-time, behind just Pete Rose and Hank Aaron.  He is also ninth all-time in hits (3,419).

7.  David Ortiz.  

8.  Kristian Campbell.  Campbell is another player who it will be interesting to see in Spring Training.  I would love to see him make it back to the Majors.

9.  Sonny Gray.  Gray ended up finishing fifth in the Cy Young vote.  I would love to see him back in Boston next year, especially since the team needs a good right-hander to balance all of the southpaws in the rotation, including Garrett Crochet, Payton Tolle, Ranger Suarez and Jake Bennett (which is why I can see Bennett being traded). 

1.  Nick Sogard.  This is my first autograph of Sogard, who should be a bench piece moving forward.  There is definitely room for him on the roster.

2.  Elston Howard.  Here's another one.  Howard was a great player, but for the Yankees.  He spent two years at the very end of his career with the Red Sox, but had an OPS of .564.  He was notably the first black player for the Yankees and won the 1963 A.L. MVP.

3.  Nomar Garciaparra.

4.  Marcelo Mayer.  Mayer is quickly becoming one of those players who people are desperate to dump their cards on me in trades.  I seem to get them a lot.

5.  Kristian Campbell.  Him too.

6.  Connelly Early.  I was disappointed to see Early traded for just Curtis Mead.  I get moving him, but I thought the Red Sox could have gotten a bit more in the trade.  It doesn't help that Mead immediately got hurt and missed the rest of the season.  Early was hurt too, but he had a good game at the end of the season for his new team.

7.  D'Angelo Ortiz.  Yes, this is David Ortiz's son.  He doesn't have his father's power yet though as he only has one home run as a professional.

8.  Kristian Campbell.

9.  Wade Boggs.  My fascination with batting champs started with Boggs being my favorite player when I started watching the Red Sox.  He won five batting titles.  The Red Sox as a team have 24 batting titles, which is third all-time.  They haven't had one since 2018 when Mookie Betts won it.  This is part of why I kind of want Luis Arraez to come to Boston.

10.  Daisuke Matsuzaka.  Here's another one.  Matsuzaka looked like the real deal after his first two seasons in Boston.  Unfortunately injuries and an inability to consistently throw strikes did him in after that.  Panini seems to really like the Asian players, Koji Uehara is also in the set and Hideki Okajima has appeared in other sets.  When do we see Hideo Nomo, Junichi Tazawa and Takashi Saito cards though?

11.  Byung-Hyun Kim.  Kim was very good in 2003 when he was acquired in a trade for Shea Hillenbrand.  He went 8-5 with a 3.18 ERA and 16 saves.  He struck out 69 and walked 18 in 79.1 innings pitched.  He was terrible in 2004 though and was traded to the Rockies for Charles Johnson, though Johnson never played with the Red Sox as he was released immediately, which I didn't understand.

12.  Franklin Arias.  I really don't want Boston to trade Arias.  I would really like to see what he can do in the Majors, but the team has had some difficulty with its minor league stars making the transition to the Majors lately.

13.  Marcelo Mayer.

14.  Dustin Pedroia.  We are getting close to Hall of Fame ballot season.  I am anxious to see if Pedroia can continue to progress.

15.  Roger Clemens.

16.  Chris Sale.  Man, the Sale trade to the Braves was much worse than the one in which Boston acquired him.  At least the White Sox got something out of Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech.

17.  Louis Andujar.  I admit I was unfamiliar with this guy.  The back of the card makes him sound like a reasonably decent prospect, who is quite a ways away at this point.  He is just 18 and played in the Florida Coast League this year, but his numbers were good.  Maybe he's someone to watch.

18.  Connelly Early.

19.  Garrett Crochet.  I really hope Crochet is healthy next year.  Boston survived this year because Sonny Gray was so good, but they need their ace back.